"Katar isn't here?" Icard asked.
Alia sat outside near the kitchen entrance, knees pulled close to her chest. She had been there when Katar left.
"Yeah. I don't know why," she replied quietly, her hair ruffled like someone who had just gotten electrocuted. "He went out the front door, sniffed around a bit. I heard a zap sound, and then he just took off."
"You're really persistent, Alia. I really think you get on his nerves when you try to rub on him that way" Matt said from the kitchen sink, scrubbing plates. Alia was supposed to be helping, but Matt had taken over without complaint.
Icard had only stepped out of his room to find Katar gone.
Katar leaving suddenly was not unusual. He did that sometimes. But this felt different.
'This wasn't just a walk,' Icard thought. 'I feel like I know exactly what he's gone to do.'
A faint unease settled in his chest.
'Am I forgetting something? Something that was supposed to happen around now?'
